Afrikaans overview

Free Afrikaans starter kit — 25 phrases you can print

A one-page Afrikaans cheat sheet for absolute beginners. Every phrase shows the Afrikaans spelling, what it means, and a respelling with the stressed syllable in capitals so you can say it out loud today. South Africa and Namibiaaround 17 million including second-language speakers.

First words

Greet someone and be polite

  • HalloHello/ha-LOH/
  • DankieThank you/DAHN-kee/
  • WelkomWelcome/VEL-kom/
  • TotsiensGoodbye/tot-SEENS/
  • JaYes/YAH/
  • NeeNo/NEE-uh/
  • AssebliefPlease/AH-suh-bleef/
  • JammerSorry/YAH-mer/

Free starter kit

Get all 25 Afrikaans phrases

Enter your email and the full printable Afrikaans starter kit opens right here — every phrase, meaning and pronunciation respelling. We'll also send one short daily phrase so it actually sticks. Unsubscribe from any email.

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Is Afrikaans hard to learn?

  • Verbs barely change form — ek is, jy is, hy is.
  • Double negatives are standard: ek het nie geld nie.
  • Vocabulary overlaps heavily with Dutch, with Malay and Khoi influences.